Stæja Thief
Stæja Thief, '''otherwise known by her anglicised nickname Abigail, is a 2014-introduced fanon-only character. She is the oldest daughter of the '''Little Robber Girl from the Hans Christian Andersen-written fairytale, The Snow Queen and currently is re-taking her Yearbook year at Ever After High. Despite initially pledging to carry out her destined role as in her Legacy Year, following the arrival of her younger sister Tyvainea, Stæja felt an excessive amount of pressure to not only meet the expectations of her tutors and family, but to also out-perform her ruthless, but gifted, younger sister. This, in part, would cause Stæja to experience a mental breakdown resulting in her forfeiting her destiny to her younger sister and accepting a lesser role in their family’s destiny. But, look on the bright side, at least she’ll be able to steal a carriage in the distant future – what fun! Stæja chooses to align herself as a rebel '''when Raven Queen’s bard of fresh-eyed revolutionaries made themselves known to the student body. Whilst she was comfortable fulfilling her prophesied role, Stæja was unaware of how severely Milton Grimm’s strict influence had shaped the world outside her beloved forests. A '''chaotic adventurer at heart, Stæja decided to take what opportunities she could get to cause trouble and pick up some new “shinies” on the way. Stæja rooms with Narcissa Demonic, the daughter of the mirror demon from The Snow Queen. ''When Stæja isn’t lurking around campus waiting to steal from her peers or getting involved in some sort of spectacle, she’s hanging around the Enchanted Forest; perched high up in a tree with her guitar in her lap and a dagger hidden in one of the heels of her boots. History Before attending Ever After High Childhood and Adolescence Stæja is the first-born child of the current Little Robber Girl, known by her anglicised name, Albany Thief. Three or so years after the last enactment of ''The Snow Queen ''tale, Albany and her lover, local inventor Yven Gazdo-Cannan, would welcome a baby girl into their travelling community. Stæja’s early months would be spent travelling across the furthest peaks of Autumn forest away from Albany’s parents, Orchard and Bjørn, though outside of some memories of the smouldering embers of an open campfire, Stæja doesn’t remember much of this time. Albany finds herself struggling to cope with motherhood, leaving most of the childcare to Yven, who does what he can, but finds Albany’s reluctance to feed the now four-month-old Stæja concerning. He eventually convinces her to return home to introduce the child to its grandparents. Early on during this visit, after an awkward reunion,Albany convinces a reluctant Yven to leave Stæja with her parents and the two run away into the night, leaving Stæja to be raised by her grandparents. From five-months onward, until just before her fifteenth birthday, Stæja lives under the care of her doting grandparents in the heart of Autumn woods. During term time, she is enrolled at a nearby village school, and during summers she joins her extended relatives and clan affiliates for adventures across Ever After; learning the tricks of her trade and being introduced to her first loves: music, and classic English adventure novels. Whilst at home in the treehouse, Stæja is a happy and in a stable environment, spending time reading, climbing on anything she can reach, or scoping out the stars with her beloved grandpappa on clear-night skies. She even manages to befriend a weird demon girl who appears in her bedroom mirror sometimes. She finds her family's fend-for-yourself ways of her travelling family hard to adjust to at first. This consequences of which is best epitomised by an incident involving a stolen skateboard, and cardboard ramp and an open flame, resulting in a pretty nasty burn scar across Stæja's left eye. Following this, her grandfather would actively keep watch of his mischevious granddaughter whilst on these ventures, strengthening their relationship as a result. Though with time, practice, and some rather unsettling manhandling by some of her older peers, she comes to love the lifestyle and accept her destiny as the future figurehead of her group. To her, it’ll just be like a summer with her aunties. All this excitement is almost enough to hide her confusion and longing for her mother. At fourteen, Stæja’s chaotic-yet-happy home life seems to crash around her when, one day coming home from school she finds her grandmother talking to a strange man and woman in the front room. Three suitcases are hanging by the front door, and Bjørn informs her that the woman in the front room is her mother, the man is her stepfather, and outside somewhere is a little girl who is her half-sister, Tyvainea. To Stæja, Tyvainea is a new friend, her mother on the other hand, is a traitor. That summer, Albany makes a half-hearted attempt to reconnect with Stæja, giving her Yven’s last known address and helps to start contact, though both mother and daughter give most of their attention to Tyvainea. The sisters play nice for the most part, and eventually Stæja tries to show her sister to her mirror friend, whom she now knows as Narcissa. Though Narcissa, upset with this, severs their connection, shattering Stæja’s mirror into tiny shards – two of which hit her little sister. One straight in the eye, one dead-centre in the heart. Tyvainea eventually starts developing into a mirror image of her mother, causing friction between the siblings. Attending Ever After High Freedom Year A fifteen-year-old Stæja Thief enters Ever After High. Wide eyed, naive, and enthusiastic. After hearing so many of her classmates butcher her name in class, two weeks into classes, Stæja adopts the more pronounceable English name ‘Abigail’; taken from an old adventure classic she had read and reread until the pages began to break free from its binding. Narcissa and Abigail are able to reconcile from their summer squabble – Abi not fully aware of the damage the broken mirror had done to her sister’s temperament– once they find out they have been assigned as roommates. The two are finally able to share their love for causing trouble and music in person, and this interest in rebellious tendencies causes then to befriend Ada Nieves in detention.The trio become the best of friends and decide to work on a variety of musical projects together - the most successful being the awkwardly named 'Cursed Fariytales' group. When Abi returns home, she finds that her grandfather's health has declined considerably, and spends most of her summer caring for him and avoiding her mother, whose frequent laps of binge-drinking and lashing out at her family becomes unavoidable. Legacy Year Now sixteen, Abi returns to Ever After High following the passing of her grandfather, carrying guilt for not knowing of his decline the previous year and deep-seeded anxiety something similar will happen to her grandmother. To ease her nerves, Orchard encourages Abigail to write, so she begins consistent correspondence with both her grandmother and father, the latter she eventually starts meeting with in Book End during weekends. Abigail signs the Storybook of Legends on her Legacy day with her grandmother, sister and father in attendance - though the absence of her mother begins to eat away at her, and she attempts to write to her. Though when Albany fails to respond, Abigail pours her angst into her music, which becomes her primary focus. The Cursed Fairytales start to perform and find their niche in Book End's burgeoning underground music scene, and this minor celebrity status introduces Abi to some means of dulling her ladened emotional burdens. She starts to experiment with the various potions and brews passed around at gigs and seeder parties, and finds solace in many flimsy relationships with classmates and strangers alike - all cultivating in a gossip-mongering reputation. Yearbook Year - Take One After spending a pleasant summer between crashing out at the Demonic estate, outings with Yven and stargazing evenings with Orchard, Abigail returns to Ever After High with her estranged sister in tow. Abi tries to hold Tyvainea's hand (so to speak) when helping her settle into to her new enviroment, Tyvainea is quick to make it clear to her sister that she does not need, or want her around. So, instead, Abi keeps tabs on Tyvainea from the sidelines, asking mutual friends (notably Sparrow and Alistair) to keep an eye on her little sister. Though watching her sister not only settle into school quickly but excel and even surpass some of Abi's talents starts to eat away at her. The sisters meet for tea in Book End on occasion, and Tyvainea makes it no secret that Albany has been writing letters to her, making Abi's self-doubt boil up into jealousy. While she's never really kept a good work-life balance, Abi decideds to devote more of herself to her band and nights out, though when the Cursed Fairytales start to struggle to compete with the new wave of fresh talent, and after one too many of Ada's tantrums, the group go "on hiatus". Abi continues to write music, continues to do her best in thieving classes, but finds that her efforts mean nothing. People's eyes are on Tyvainea, Abigail feels like a failure, and in a haze of pills and potions, cigarettes and heartbreaks something inside her breaks. Abi stops attending class, ignores her academic probation notices, ignores Narcissa's attempts to help her, stops answering letters, checking social media, stops playing music. She either hides out in her dorm, or is on the roof of her block of dorms, staring into the sky, wishing she had her mum, wishing she had a purpose. Though such destructive behaviour does not go unnoticed, and quickly Narcissa, Ada and the school's councillor team stage an intervention. She starts going to therapy, and after decides to return home to "ground herself", deciding to write off the academic year and try again later. Yearbook Year - Take Two Whilst her closest friends enter senior year, Abi returns to Ever After High, still a little "broken" but feeling a lot better, but not really starting to feel like "Stæja again" until the student body watches on as Raven Queen refuses the sign the Storybook of Legends and write her own story, sparking a school-wide, possibly even society-wide conflict between royals and rebels. Believing that she's witnessing the beginning of a revolution, Abi devotes herself wholeheartedly to the rebel cause...by specifically targetting royal-aligned students in her stealing practices and writing protest music. She drops the Abigail nickname and instead of bowing down to her peers, encourages them to expand their vocal palette, and when that fails for some, just starts threatening them every time they deliberatley mispronounce her name. When the Storybook of Legends is revealled to be essentially moot, Stæja decides to relinquish her destiny respnosibilities to her younger sister, now fully confident she'll be able to carve out a story for herself, complete with a happy ending. She takes up studying astronomy in her spare time, and sits in with excitement as Narcissa and Ada plan their gap-year adventures following graduation. She's not quite sure what her own story is going to be, and she knows she's got a lot of work to do, but one thing is for sure - she's not going down again without a fight. Characteristics Personality and Traits When placed against the various cliques in Ever After High’s student body, Stæja appears as a misfit, an unapologetically unanglicized figure who, despite having a somewhat competent command of English, exaggerates her accent and constantly tries to talk like an “adventurer”, which is more akin to a pastiche of a South-English pirate. Despite her verbal quirks, Stæja is relatively charismatic and is able to ease the unexpected into a false sense of security before taking them for all they’ve got. When she speaks in her native tongue, she comes across as rather intelligent, but her signature loose morals and palpable energy still come through. Despite all her attempts at flair, Stæja comes across as somewhat socially awkward when in the presence of authority, mostly because she has to suppress the aggression she holds towards figures like Milton Grimm, Apple White and Her Majesty the White Queen, to name a few. She comes across as hostile and isn’t afraid to kick the latch in her heel and pull out a dagger to be left alone. Though this just lands her in detention, most of the time. Little do most of her peers know, however, she doesn’t actually know how to fight with a blade efficiently, making any weaponised interaction very stressful for Stæja. While not actively manipulative, Stæja is able to mould her mood and approach towards people is dependent on a specific need or agenda. She will be polite if she wanted to charm someone, she'll be flirty if she's out to try and "pull", or rude if she wanted to intimidate, and so on. Despite currently having a stable set of friends, Stæja has trouble with understanding emotions and sees her friends as objects, or her possessions. However, when she doesn’t feel that her “authority” over her friends is threatened, she is known to be quite relaxed, playful, and considerate. In a way, she's rather turbulent. True to her heritage, Stæja is a shameless kleptomaniac, she tends to swipe stray stationery, keys, books, chips, jewellery, the occasional MirrorPhone – though despite being quite gifted at stealing, she’s not comfortable with using the things she steals, and usually holds them to ransom or sells them if not caught. She often enjoys causing chaos around campus, whether it be stealing, messing about in class and just generally being naughty - even if she's not great with pranks and isn't all that good at subtly. As a result, Stæja prefers more explicit forms of anarchy, arguments, vandalism, food fights, theft, and the like. Stæja secretly longs for a stable and conclusive “happily ever after”. A structured path to replace her vague and convoluted "purpose" in life. To play a role, be an accessory to a greater narrative that doesn't really concern her. How she intends to change this is uncertain, though she has no problem being incredibly nihilistic about it. Physical Appearance Stæja peaks at 4'9 in height and physically appears quite chubby. Her face appears quite round and youthful, with pale freckles scattered across her cheeks and a significant burn scar which mostly has blended into her skin, though its structure is still visible, around her left eye - though this is often covered by her hair. Her eyes are light brown in colour and are quite wide. She has short hair which is frequently elongated with the use of hair extensions; when it isn't straightened or stuffed into bunches, her hair appears quite kinky with thick, defined curls. Hobbies and Interests Stæja is very enthusiastic about all things thievery, she enjoys stealing, learning new techniques, and delving deep into its history and the various clans dotted about Ever After. When on the prowl, she targets people she doesn't like - basically anyone with a crown and a snobby attitude - though will playfully "borrow" insignificant things from friends. When being asked about it, she describes it as a weird way of showing affection. Additionally, Stæja has inherited her late grandfather's love of astrology and dedicates a lot of her free time to studying the night sky, particularly the constellations. This hobby is quickly turning into an obsession. Stæja also experiments with music, with a somewhat decent singing voice (though rather untrained and unstable with tougher notes), a solid ability to play the guitar and violin. While Stæja's never been great with compositions, and this is something she wants to master - she tends to spend her time performing with really anyone who wants to join her. For a while, Stæja was part of the Cursed Fairytales with Ada Nieves and Narcissa Demonic; though the group is currently on an indefinite hiatus, Stæja does often spend a lot of her time playing her music in the Enchanted Forest - at least when Sparrow Hood isn't around. When he is, she'll just crack open her copy ''Treasure Island ''or ''What Katy Did ''and enjoy the free gig. She also enjoys ice skating, and does own a pair of boots that she has modified into ice skates, she taught herself to skate as a child. She has considered seeing if the school has a hockey team, of which she'd be more than happy to join. Fairy tale - The Snow Queen How the Story Goes: Main article: The Snow Queen How does Stæja come into it? Albany Thief, Stæja's mother, is the most recent Robber Girl to carry out her destiny, in her early twenties, Albany becomes quite bored of staying in one place and runs away. She decides to crash with some other thieves in a squat for a few months; eventually meeting an enthusiastic aspiring inventor called Yven - a former Irish traveller who decided to separate from his family to study engineering. Albany is attracted to his quirky and optimistic nature and they quickly become a couple. A year or so later Albany and Yven have a child; who they name Stæja. The introduction of a child causes angst and friction to chip at their shotgun relationship. Albany doesn't really know how parenting works, and quickly becomes bored of her daughter and then actively begins to avoid bonding with Stæja. Stæja is left with her grandparents, Orchard and Bjørn. Whom, despite welcoming the child with open arms, seem reluctant to relieve Albany of her parental responsibly but are left with the child when Albany and a reluctant Yven skip town. As a result, Stæja is raised by Orchard and Bjørn, staying at a treehouse home in the middle of Autumn Forest during term time, and travelling across Ever After's woodland during the summer. Opinion on Destiny Up until her Yearbook year, Stæja was very excited to carry out her destiny, having been exposed to the lifestyle her role requires in childhood summer breaks. The freedom of travelling, the thrill of planning and carrying out a more organised heist against reckless travellers, the moments of calm unity shared over a campfire all appeal to her greatly. She knew she had the skill, charisma and enthusiasm to fulfil her destiny and respected its importance - as non-compliance would almost certainly result in her family's crimes catching up with them, and with no favour of the brothers Grimm to protect them, imprisonment would be certain. In her Legacy Year, Stæja signed the Storybook of Legends with great enthusiasm and was doing her best to keep up with her studies. Her grandmother had frequently stressed the importance of Stæja's (and eventually Tyvainea) education, as the village of Book End and the boarding school would be the girls first and only exposure to "ordinary life" and the diversity of people that span across the many kingdoms. Stæja respected this, recognising that destiny had brought not just herself, but a lot of her relatives to education and opportunity that her travelling clan would have otherwise ignored or not have had access to; she would grow to loathe the sense of superiority amongst royalty and contempt shown to people of lesser significance and power. While she accepted her role in the system, for all it was worth (which in the grand scheme of things is not much), she was certain she didn't like it. The way destiny seemed to remove those involved of their autonomy, their freedom, their individuality scared her, and when a revolution would come calling the next year, she stood her ground as a '''rebel'. Currently, following the invalidation of the Storybook of Legends and her's forfeit of her destiny to her sister, Stæja is destined to take a minor, supporting role in the next recreation of The Snow Queen. While she misses her title and previously held influence, to her, not much has changed. She'll still be travelling, and considering the next Gerda seems quite sweet on Tyvainea, so it seems like a win for everyone. Much to her sister's chagrin, however, Stæja often introduces herself as the 'first alternate robber girl and future leader of the Autumn Woods clan'. Sometimes, she wonders if her sister would give her the role back if she made a good case for it. Parallels WIP Name Pronounced as: Shh-tay-ja Stæja's name is a modification of the Danish word for steal, 'Stjæle'. Trivia * According to popular opinion, Stæja's last name 'Thief' isn't legitimate. Some people don't even believe Stæja is her legal name - who the hell names their child Stæja anyway? * Stæja loathes analogue clocks, mainly because she struggles to read them and resents how they appear in abundace throughout campus. As a result, she is very dependant on her mirrordevices to tell her the time. * Stæja was born somewhere in Denmark, but raised primarily in Norway - hence her dual citizenship Category:The Snow Queen Category:Commoners Category:Rebels Category:Females Category:Pansexual Category:Danish Category:Norwegian